DUBAI: Women from around the Middle East and North Africa are coming together for the 2nd annual Women in Leadership Forum Middle East, to be held this week in Abu Dhabi. The goal of the forum is to create new means of educating societies on women's empowerment and strengthen cultural values, attending women leaders told Bikya Masr. The forum coincides with the publication of a Emirates company, Naseba, study titled “Women and the workplace: Drivers and Barriers” that looked into women in the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and their attitudes regarding the workplace. Both employed and unemployed women were surveyed in the study. “It is good to see this sort of thing taking form in the Arab world, because women need it,” Yussra Ghataina, a Tunisian activist attending the conference, told Bikya Masr. “We women have to be more forceful in empowerment issues and hopefully this will be a positive step in the right direction,” she added. Global trends suggest that single-income households are no longer able to support the lifestyle they expect. Consequently, more and more women opt to work in order to support their families and the global financial turmoil has only accentuated this development. Overall trends are reflected regionally according to the study, as Emirati women now account for 28 percent of the national labor force, Saudi women represent 14 percent, and Egyptian women comprise 12 percent. Some common trends emerging from respondents in the UAE, KSA and Egypt outline the fact that by being a part of the workforce, women feel they can effectively strengthen the cultural values of the family and educate society. Through work, they can also achieve independence – financial or otherwise – although support from family has proven essential to success. Additionally, the study revealed that working in a mixed-gender environment is harmonious to society as it allows women to learn how to deal with men. Financial independence appeared to be the number one motivator for working women, as 68 percent of the respondents pointed out that salaries that do not meet their expectations represent the main barrier to becoming employed. Once in the workplace, women signaled less opportunity for promotion as the number one barrier in the workplace (42 percent), followed by an increasingly stressful and demanding work environment (35 percent) as well as discrimination in terms of salary and benefits (29 percent). When asked to indicate their level of agreement with regards to knowledge of harassment by male colleagues, across the board 41 percent agreed that women do face harassment in the present work environment. In terms of the non-working women sample, when given a chance to work, around 94 percent indicated their interest, however conditions would apply. 48 percent of respondents mentioned that the most important factor that would encourage them to join the workforce would be the proximity of the job to their homes, closely followed by the match of qualifications held and job requirements and thirdly, at 35 percent, the career growth opportunities. Overall conclusions outline the fact that the recession brought into greater focus the need for double-income households. It also shows that women are want to break away from the stereotypes of yesterday whilst trying to balance their work and family lives. This sees the financial provision for the household turning into a shared responsibility, as opposed to previously being regarded as the sole responsibility of a husband. The results bring into focus the growing need of women to be a part of the workforce – not only to more actively contribute to society at large but also to contribute to their household finances, setting an example for their children. BM
